the_white_queenfandomcom-20200214-history
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England from 1486 until 1503. Throughout her lifetime, she was the daughter of King Edward IV, the sister of Edward V, the niece of Richard III, and wife of Henry VII. She was also the mother of Henry VIII, as well as grandmother of his children Mary I, Elizabeth I and Edward VI. She is also the most recent common ancestor of all English monarchs. Historical Backround She was born at the Palace of Westminster, the eldest child of King Edward IV and his Queen consort, Elizabeth Woodville. In 1483, Edward IV died and Elizabeth's younger brother, Edward V, became King. Her uncle, Richard,Duke of Gloucester, was appointed regent and protector of his nephews.Shortly after his brother's death, Gloucester began taking steps to isolate his nephews from their Woodville relations. Edward V was placed in the royal residence of the Tower of London, ostensibly for his protection. Elizabeth Woodville fled with her younger son, Richard, and her daughters into sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Gloucester requested Richard go to the Tower to keep his brother company and Elizabeth Woodville agreed.Two months later, on 22 June 1483, Edward IV's marriage was declared invalid (Edward, it was claimed, had at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville already been betrothed to Lady Eleanor Butler); this made the children of the marriage bastards and ineligible for the succession. Parliament issued a bill, Titulus Regius ("The Title of the King"), in support of this position: it legally bastardised the children of Edward IV, and declared Gloucester the rightful king. Gloucester then ascended the throne as Richard III on 6 July 1483, and Edward V and his brother disappeared shortly afterwards. Soon rumors began to spread that they had been murdered. Elizabeth's mother, Elizabeth Woodville, made an alliance with Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor, who had the closest claim to royalty of those in the Lancastrian party. Although Henry was descended from King Edward III, his claim to the throne was weak, due to the clause barring ascension to the throne by any heirs of the legitimized offspring of his great-great-grandparents, John of Gaunt (3rd son of King Edward III) and Katherine Swynford. Despite this, his mother and Elizabeth Woodville agreed Henry should move to claim the throne, and once he had taken it, he would marry Woodville's daughter, Elizabeth of York, uniting the two rival Houses.In 1484, Elizabeth and her family left Westminster Abbey and returned to Richard III's court. It was rumoured that he intended to marry her: his wife, Anne Neville, was dying and they had no surviving children.However, on 7 August 1485, Henry and his army landed in Wales and began marching inland. On 22 August 1485, Henry and Richard fought the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard, despite having the larger army, was betrayed by some of his most powerful retainers and died in battle. Henry took the crown by right of conquest as Henry VII.As the eldest daughter of Edward IV with no surviving brothers, Elizabeth had a strong claim to the throne in her own right – and may have been the rightful heir to the throne after the death of her uncle Richard III – but she did not rule as queen regnant.Henry acknowledged the necessity of marrying Elizabeth to secure the stability of his rule and weaken the claims of other surviving members of the House of York, but he insisted on being king due to a tenuous claim of inheritance from John of Gaunt, ruling in his own right, and not by his marriage to the heir of the House of York, and had no intention of sharing power.Henry had the Titulus Regius repealed, thereby relegitimising the children of Edward IV and acknowledged Edward V as his predecessor, since he did not want the legitimacy of his wife or her claim as heiress of Edward IV called into question.Henry and Elizabeth married on 18 January 1486. Despite being a political arrangement, the marriage proved successful and both partners appear to have cared for each other. As queen, Elizabeth did not exercise much political influence, due to her strong-minded mother-in-law Lady Margaret Beaufort, but she was reported to be gentle and kind, and generous to her relations, servants and benefactors.On 14 November 1501, Elizabeth's eldest son, Arthur, married Katharine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, and the pair were sent to Ludlow Castle, traditional residence of the Prince of Wales. Five months later, Arthur died in April 1502. The news of Arthur's death caused Henry VII to break down in grief, as much in fear for his dynasty as mourning for his son. It is a testament to his love for Elizabeth – and her love for him – in the fact that she comforted him, telling him that he was the only child of his mother but had survived to become King, that God had left him with a son and two daughters and that they were both young enough to have more children.Elizabeth became pregnant once more, and in on 2 February 1503, Elizabeth gave birth to a girl named Catherine, but the child died a few days afterwards. Succumbing to a post partum infection, Elizabeth died on 11 February, her 37th birthday. Her husband appeared to sincerely mourn her death; according to one account, he "privily departed to a solitary place and would no man should resort unto him". Despite his reputation for thrift, he gave her a splendid funeral; she lay in state in the Tower and was buried in Westminster Abbey, in the Lady Chapel Henry had built. The White Queen Season 1 Write the second section of your page here. Category:Characters Category:House of York Category:Yorkists Category:House of Lancaster Category:Lancastrians Category:Queens Category:House of Tudor Category:Classic Beauties